More Than Meets The Eye
by phoenixfire1995
Summary: After being released from prison following an accident in which he was intoxicated, Sean Davis fights to reconnect with his estranged mother, rebellious younger brother Jack, and high school sweetheart Isabelle. While doing this, Sean, Jack, and Isabelle are thrust into the middle of a battle between two warring alien factions with the ability to transform into machines.
1. Chapter I

**Chapter I**

I was sitting on a cold, metal bench in the Tranquility City Jail, tapping my foot nervously as the warden of the jail stood with his back to me signing my release forms.

"Davis, Sean. You're free to go," the warden said, handing me the clothes I was arrested in from four years ago along with my wallet.

I took them and changed in the public restroom. I came back out and walked out of the jail, shielding my eyes from the evening sunlight.

A guard walked me down a corridor between two chain-link fences and left me out in the parking lot outside of the jail. It was empty. Prior to my release, the warden contacted both my mother and another individual to inform them of my release. We had both thought that either one of them would have been here to pick me up, but nope. I was alone.

I sighed and pulled out my wallet. I opened it up and looked through all of its pockets, pulling out about eighty-five cents worth of change. I knew it wasn't enough, but maybe with enough pleading I could manage to get a bus ride somewhere other than here. I walked down to the bus stop and sat on the bench to wait for the next bus.

Twenty minutes later, a city bus rolled to a stop. I watched as two women got off and I got on board.

"Sorry, but this is all I got," I told the bus driver, showing him the four coins in my hand.

"Sorry, but you can't ride my bus," the bus driver told me.

"Come on, man, this is all I got. Please," I pleaded with him.

"Not my problem, now get off," the bus driver ordered me, holding the front door open for me.

I was about to leave when suddenly an older gentleman came up and spotted me the difference between what I got and what I needed.

"Thank you," I told the older man, nodding my head.

"No problem, son," he responded as he took his seat.

I sat down across from him and the bus drove off from the stop.

"So, how long were you in?" the older man asked me.

"Pardon?" I questioned, looking at him.

"How long were you in prison?" the man asked me.

His question caused some bystanders to grow wary of me, but I ignored them.

"Four years, I just got out today. How did you know I had been in prison?" I asked.

"I know the look of freedom on one's face when they get out," the old man responded, smirking at me.

"How long were you in prison for?" I asked him.

"Twenty-five years," he responded.

More people backed away from us "convicts" as if we were going to jump up, rob, and kill them all.

"Damn… what did you do?" I asked, growing curious.

"Something stupid, just like you. It doesn't matter what either of us did, it was stupid, and it leaves a permanent stain on your life. Just look at all these people, acting as if we were a pair of fucking serial killers," the old man pointed out.

I looked over at the people and there were two seats between both the old man and me and the rest of them.

"It's like we got the plague," I joked.

"Yup. It's pathetic how people judge someone based off their lives, their mistakes, but never judge themselves for theirs," the old man muttered, pressing the yellow strip on the inside walls of the bus to signal he wanted off.

We both got to our feet as the bus pulled to a stop.

"Is this your stop, son?" the old man asked me.

"It is now. I don't have anywhere else to go. No one bothered to come pick me up," I responded.

"A shame, you seem like a good kid," the old man told me as we walked off the bus.

I then noticed we had gotten off in the bad part of Tranquility, Nevada. A lot of gang violence goes on around here.

"So, do you live around here?" I asked him.

"Yes, I do. I live with my wife and granddaughter, Isabelle. Funny thing is, she's your age," the old man said, smiling knowingly.

I then figured it out why he was so kind to me on the bus.

"You're Isabelle's grandfather?" I asked him.

"Yes, and you were her high school boyfriend, Sean Davis," the old man answered and pointed out.

"I'm sorry I hadn't recognized you," I apologized.

"It's okay, four years changed me quite a bit, but four years hadn't changed you," he responded.

I looked down at the sidewalk as we continued walking. We then got to his home and I stood on his porch.

"You nervous?" he asked me.

"She hasn't seen me in four years… The last time we were around each other, we had a big fight… She told me it was over and left and I drove home drunk," I pointed out.

"This is a situation that you two need to figure out yourselves," Isabelle's grandfather pointed out.

"Yes sir," I responded.

"Please, call me James," he responded, unlocking his door.

He opened it and was greeted by his wife. I stood behind him on the porch.

"Mary, do you remember Sean Davis?" James asked his wife.

Isabelle's grandmother looked at me and gasped.

"Oh Sean, it's been too long," she said, rushing out to embrace me.

I stood there like a bipedal log as the older woman hugged me.

"Where's Isabelle?" James asked his wife as she pulled away from me.

"She's up in her room," Mary pointed out, returning to the kitchen to finish cooking dinner.

"Good, are you hungry Sean?" James asked me.

"No, I couldn't intrude," I responded.

"Nonsense, we have more than enough. I'll set up a fourth plate," Mary said.

"You got a place to stay?" James asked as he took off his coat to hang on a coat rack beside the front door.

"Yeah," I lied.

"Don't lie to me son," James responded.

I shook my head.

"You'll stay here until you get back on your feet," James said.

"No, I can't," I responded.

"Yes, you can Sean. You're essentially family to my wife and I. We care about you," James said.

Then why didn't either of you come visit me in jail, I thought to myself.

Suddenly one of the back bedroom doors opened up and a young woman the same age as I walked out into the living room. She had her chestnut brown hair tied in a ponytail and her hazel eyes widened as she saw me. It was my old girlfriend, Isabelle.

"Sean…," she whispered under her breath.


	2. Chapter II

**Chapter II**

The four of us stood in the kitchen/dining room/living room looking at one another.

"Mary, let me help you set dinner up," James said calmly, leaving me alone with his granddaughter.

I didn't know what to say to her. I honestly felt like turning and walking out the front door and never coming back, but I knew I couldn't bring myself to do that.

"So… you're out?" Isabelle asked me, breaking the silence.

"Yeah…," I responded.

"How did you end up here?" Isabelle asked me.

"I ran into your grandfather on the bus," I answered.

"And you two just… walked here from the bus stop?" Isabelle asked, almost suspiciously.

I nodded.

"How've you been?" Isabelle asked then looked like she wanted to kick herself for the question.

"Pretty good. Got three bad meals a day and two hours for exercising," I responded.

"You do look like you've been working out," Isabelle commented, then looked like she wanted to kick herself again.

"How have you been?" I asked her.

"Good… I graduated; I'm going to Tranquility City College. I'm working at a Starbucks part-time," Isabelle said.

"Boyfriend?" I asked.

Isabelle shook her head, smiling slightly.

"Dinner's ready!" her grandmother sounded off from the kitchen.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Isabelle asked.

"I'm being forced," I responded half-jokingly.

We then walked over to the dining room table and sat down across from each other with James and Mary on either side of us. On the table was a small turkey with a side of mashed potatoes and creamed corn. It looked so good, my mouth was practically watering.

"It looks delicious," I said to Mary.

She smiled and nodded.

"It was all on sale since Thanksgiving had just passed," James explained.

I then felt a twinge of melancholy come over me with the thought that I had missed Thanksgiving with my own family.

"Sean, you okay?" Isabelle asked, looking a little worried.

"Huh? Yeah, I'm okay," I lied, putting on a fake smile.

James looked at me hard and I felt guilty for lying.

"Sean, why don't you say Grace?" James asked, offering his hand to both his granddaughter and me.

I looked at his hand and then over to Mary's before taking both of them.

"Um… Bless us all-powerful Lord and the food we are about to consume… Give us all knowledge to withstand the coming New Year and give us love to aid in our existence, amen," I said.

"Amen," Isabelle, James, and Mary concluded.

We then dug into the food on the table.

"So Sean, what do you plan to do now?" Mary asked.

"Make amends with everyone I hurt," I responded, earning the eyes off all three.

I sighed.

"Isabelle, I'm sorry for even going to that stupid party… I'm sorry for taking you along and acting like a complete jerk to you while we were there. I'm sorry for leading you to walk ten miles in the dark back home… I'm sorry for everything," I apologized profusely to her.

"Sean… I forgive you," Isabelle said.

I looked at her and the sincerity in her eyes. I felt a hand clasped across my back and looked at James.

"One down," he said, smiling helpfully.

After dinner, James led me to their guest room where a freshly made bed waited for me.

"I'll go get you a pair of my old pajamas," James said, leaving me alone in the guest room.

I sat at the end of the bed and looked at a crucifix on the wall in front of me.

"Here you go, Sean, the bathroom is across the hall from you. Be sure to flip the sign on the door to "occupied" 'cause the lock doesn't work," James said, handing me a pair of flannel pajama pants and a white t-shirt.

He also handed me a new toothbrush, a stick of deodorant, and a clean towel.

"Thank you… for everything," I said.

"It was no trouble, Sean," James responded, leaving to go help his wife with the dishes.

I stood up from the bed and walked across the hall to the bathroom. The sign was on its "vacant" side, so I opened the door and walked in, forgetting to turn it to "occupied". I turned the light on, putting the pajamas, toothbrush, deodorant and towel on the sink counter. I stripped, showered, and stood in front of the fogged-up mirror with the towel around my waist.

I had gained quite a bit of muscle mass in the four years behind bars, but I also gained my fair share of scars. I had been stabbed twice with shanks and the scars were still there on my abdomen. I was lucky to survive despite hoping I would die.

The door suddenly opened and Isabelle stood there, eyes widened, not expecting me to be standing there with the only thing covering my nudity being a towel.

"Oh crap, sorry!" she apologized profusely, slamming the door.

I stood there in awkward silence.

"You forgot to slip the sign," Isabelle told me from the other side of the door.

"I'm sorry," I apologized.

"No, it was my fault. I should have seen that the light was on," Isabelle responded.

I then came out of the bathroom dressed with my dirty clothes and towel under my arm.

"Where do I put these?" I asked her.

"The hamper is out in the garage right by the door that goes into the kitchen," Isabelle explained.

I nodded and walked over to the kitchen. I opened the garage door and put my dirty clothes in the hamper. I closed the door and turned to see a crimson-faced Isabelle staring at me.

"Sean, I'm sorry I never came down to visit… I was just so… so angry at you that I never wanted to see you again," Isabelle admitted.

"I don't blame you… I wasn't the best person to you," I responded.

"But when I saw you today… all that hatred went away," Isabelle revealed.

I looked at her.

"I just felt relieved to see you again… I just," Isabelle went on, but stopped.

She moved closer to me and wrapped her around my shoulders. I responded by wrapping my arms around her slender waist.

"I just want to be with you again…," she admitted, resting her forehead against my chest.

"I spent all four years locked up in the prison thinking of you… regretting everything that went wrong, wishing that I could see you one more time just to say how sorry I am for hurting you… It hurt to have to go through each day not seeing you, or hearing from you, but I understood why you never came and I didn't blame you. I wouldn't have wanted to see me either," I said.

Isabelle looked up at me, tears having been formed in her eyes. She then kissed me on the cheek. It was quick, but especially soft.

"Well I'm here now," she said.


	3. Chapter III

**Chapter III**

It was nighttime over the Nevada-Arizona border and it was in the midst of a meteor shower. A series of meteors, however, were not disintegrating in Earth's atmosphere and made landfall in the middle of the desert.

Nearby, a black van was monitoring the meteor shower and witnessed the ones that collided with Earth.

"That was strange… they slowed down before landing," the driver of the van pointed out to the passenger.

"Block out the signals in this region. I'm contacting Steele," the passenger responded.

An hour passed and a second vehicle pulled up next to the van. The passenger side window rolled down and a man wearing a rusted, metal mask looked over into the van.

"What is it that you two have called me down here for?" the man asked in a deep voice.

The two men stepped out of the van.

"You need to come with us, sir," the driver said.

The man in the metal mask then stepped out of the car and towered over the driver.

"I need to come with you?" the masked man asked.

The driver nodded, trying not to be afraid. The masked man then grabbed the van's driver by his throat and lifted him off the ground. He was strangling him.

"You do not decide what my necessity is and what isn't," the masked man said nonchalantly, breaking the driver's neck.

He released the dead man and he fell to the desert floor limply. The masked man looked at the passenger.

"So, what is it I have to see?" the masked man asked.

The passenger was speechless. He didn't know what to say and was afraid of saying the wrong thing.

"Point it out, son," the masked man said.

The passenger pointed in the direction that the meteorites had fallen.

"That way, sir," the passenger said meekly.

Steele nodded and began walking across the desert with his driver behind him. The van's passenger was busy disposing of the driver's body.

Steele and his driver came across the six craters that were left by the meteorites' collisions.

Hmm… interesting," Steele muttered to himself.

He knelt down beside one of the craters and picked up a piece of metal in his gloved hand.

"This isn't of Earth, but it isn't a meteorite fragment. It's something entirely different," Steele said.

He clenched his hand into a fist around the metal fragment and stood to his feet, looking off into the distance where several large footprints led off before being covered by the desert.

I was up before dawn and dressed into my freshly-cleaned clothes I wore last night. I went out for a morning jog and came back to the house forty-five minutes later.

I sat at the dining room table and sat there, waiting as the sun came up. Isabelle was surprisingly the first one up and she was already dressed to go to work.

"What time do you get off?" I asked her.

"Not until noon," Isabelle said.

"Mind giving me a ride?" I asked her.

"To?" she asked in response.

"To your work, I could use some coffee," I said, smiling at her.

"Sure thing, let me just leave a note for my grandparents," Isabelle said, grabbing a piece of paper to write down a note telling her grandparents that both her and I left so they wouldn't worry.

She put the note on the dining room table and we then left. We walked around the house and Isabelle got to the driver side door of an old Toyota Corolla.

"This is your car?" I asked her as she unlocked it.

"Yeah, why?" Isabelle asked.

"It's a piece of shit," I said.

"Shut up, this here is my baby," Isabelle said with pride as we sat in her car.

She turned the ignition and the car choked to a start. I gave her a look.

"Shut up," she said, rolling her eyes as she backed out of the driveway.

She turned and drove away from her house and I sat back in the passenger seat.

"How did you get those scars?" Isabelle asked me suddenly.

"I got stabbed with a shank twice," I muttered.

"Did it hurt?" Isabelle asked.

I looked at her incredulously.

"Yes, it hurt a lot," I said.

"Did you ever drop the soap?" Isabelle asked.

Again I looked at her incredulously and shook my head.

"Are you gonna go by to see your Mom or Jack?" Isabelle asked.

"Jack, maybe, but my Mom. No," I responded.

"You never told me why you hate your Mom so much, what's up between you two?" Isabelle asked.

"I don't hate her… I loathe her," I responded nonchalantly.

"Why though, I mean she's your mother. She took care…," Isabelle responded before I interrupted.

"She didn't take care of me for one second of my life," I responded sharply.

"What do you mean?" Isabelle asked.

"Ever since I was born, my Mom was too busy getting drunk and doing drugs to bother to take care of me. I had my grandmother to take care of me, but she died when I was twelve. Jack was seven at the time and he was getting the same neglect I was, so I took care of him," I said.

"Why didn't you tell anyone this was going on?" Isabelle asked.

"I didn't want Jack and me to be separated… but life in that house was becoming unbearable, so I started drinking it all away," I said.

Isabelle watched me through her peripheral as she pulled to a stop in front of the Starbucks she works at.

"So it's this Starbucks you work at?" I asked her, smiling slightly despite our previous conversation.

"Yeah," she responded, but definitely seemed like she was distracted by something.

"It was the Starbucks we first met in," I pointed out.

"I know," Isabelle responded.

"Are you okay?" I asked her.

She looked at me; lips pursed, and then sighed.

"Sean, it's about your brother," Isabelle said.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"Well, since you've been in prison, I've been keeping an eye on him through Facebook and some friends still in school and he's been drinking, partying, and possibly smoking weed," Isabelle revealed.

I looked at her incredulously.

"When is he going to his next party?" I asked her.

"Tonight," Isabelle responded.

"Alright, guess where we're going tonight," I told her.

"The party," Isabelle guessed.

"Yup, and I'm going to kick Jack's fucking teeth in for following in my stupid footsteps," I said.


	4. Chapter IV

**Chapter IV**

After Isabelle had gotten off work, we went back to her place to check my younger brother's Facebook page to see where the party he was supposed to be going to tonight was.

"Where are you two going?" James asked us.

"We're going to a party to talk to my brother, he's following in my footsteps and I need to stop him," I answered.

James then approached me.

"It isn't always good to judge and intervene is another's life, Sean," he said.

"It is when lives are on the line," I responded.

James looked at me and sighed.

"Alright, he is your brother, but be careful," James warned me.

"I will," I responded.

That night, I stood by Isabelle's car. I was still wearing the same thing I dressed into earlier this morning, but I had one of James's coats over me. It was a cold night. Isabelle came out wearing her own coat along with a scarf wrapped around her neck, blue jeans, and fur boots.

"Ready?" she asked me.

"Yeah… I'm ready," I responded, sitting on the passenger seat.

Isabelle sat down on the driver seat and closed the door. She drove off away from her home and started heading for the mountains to the north of Tranquility, Nevada.

"Sean, this party is at some rich kid's house. It's invite only," Isabelle told me.

"I don't care where it is, or if it's invite only. If my brother is there drinking and getting high, I'm dragging his ass home," I responded.

"What if someone tries starting a fight with you when you're trying to get in?" Isabelle asked, growing concerned.

"I'll fight them," I responded quickly.

"And end up back in jail," Isabelle pointed out.

I ignored her and just looked out the passenger side window as she drove up the winding road that led up to the mountains. I saw a pair of shooting stars race across the sky and disappear behind the mountain before I could watch them disappear into oblivion.

Isabelle pulled up to a gated home on the top of the mountain. It was huge. There were already plenty of high school kids running around, playing loud music from their vehicles, and going into the house.

Isabelle parked by the gate and I got out.

"Sean, wait!" Isabelle called after me.

I ignored her and walked to the front door, but a pair of large teenagers stopped me.

"Invitation?" one of them asked me.

"Don't have one, don't need one," I responded.

I slammed the heel of my hand into the throat of one of the teenagers, causing him to hit the back of his head on the doorframe. He slid to the ground, coughing violently and his friend grabbed me by the back of my neck. He picked me up off the ground and I kicked him three times in the gut. He released me and I swept his legs out from under him before stomping down onto his chest, incapacitating him.

Several other high school partiers had formed a circle around us and moved aside to let me through.

Isabelle ran to the house and saw the two teenage boys I had knocked out.

"Damn it, Sean," she swore under her breath, running into the house after me.

I began looking around for my brother, but that proved difficult since I haven't seen him in four years.

"Sean!" Isabelle snapped, grabbing my shoulder.

I turned to face her and she did not look happy.

"Hey, I asked nicely," I said to her.

"Hey! Asshole!" a high school student called down to me from the upper story.

He ran down the stair and approached me aggressively.

"What makes you think you can assault my friends like that!?" he asked me angrily.

He then tried throwing a fist at me, but I ducked under it, and flipped the high school student over me. He crashed on top of an expensive-looking table and broke it to several pieces. Isabelle gave me an incredulous look.

"What? He threw a punch at me first," I responded.

"Who the hell broke my great grandmother's table!?" a snooty-looking high school student shouted as he ran over.

I pointed down at the unconscious boy.

"Get up!" the snooty boy snapped, kicking the other boy in the side.

Isabelle and I moved away to continue looking for my brother.

"Look down here, I'll go upstairs," I said.

"Okay. Try not to get into any more fights," Isabelle told me.

"No promises," I said, heading for the stairs.

I walked up them and wound up in a hallway with three doors on either side of me.

I opened the first one on my left and it was a bedroom with no one in it. I opened the door on my right and it was another bedroom, but this one had two high school students having sex on the bed. The girl screamed upon seeing me, causing me to slam the door shut on them. I opened the next door on my left, but it was just a bathroom. I opened the second door on my right and it was a third bedroom that was layered in a thick veil of marijuana smoke. I coughed violently and waved some of the smoke away. I then saw someone familiar laying on the bed, smoking marijuana.

"Jack!" I snapped, getting my younger brother's attention.

"Sean…? Whoa… this is some good… good shit. I'm seeing my… brother, but he's in jail," Jack responded.

He was definitely high, so I went into the smoke-laden room and grabbed him. I started dragging him out when Jack suddenly pushed away from me.

"What the fuck, you stupid… buzz kill," Jack choked out to say.

I sighed and simply knocked my brother out with one punch. I picked him up and strewn him over my shoulder. I walked down the stairs where Isabelle was still looking for my brother.

"Izzy!" I called out to get her attention.

She turned and ran over to me.

"Oh my God! Is he okay!? Isabelle asked, obviously worried.

"Yeah, he's just a little sleepy," I responded.

Isabelle looked at me.

"Let's go," I said, heading toward the exit.

We left the party without too much damage being dealt to anyone, and I threw my unconscious younger brother onto the back seat of Isabelle's car. He groaned and shifted a little. I closed the door and then got into the passenger seat as Isabelle sat down on the driver seat. She drove off from the party and Jack started coming to.

"Where am I?" he asked, sitting up in the middle of the back seat.

"Going home," I responded, looking back at him.

"Sean? You're out of jail?" he asked me.

"Yeah, and I can see you're doing the same shit to get your own ass in jail!" I snapped.

"Whoa, back the fuck up. You don't have any right judging me," Jack said.

"I do when I know what the outcome is!" I snapped.

"You're the idiot who decided to drive home that night," Jack said.

I lost it right there. I took my seatbelt off and reached back into the back seat to grab my brother.

"You piece of shit!" I shouted.

"Sean!" Isabelle shouted, trying to grab me, but also trying to keep her eyes on the road.

Ahead of us there were three Chevrolet Suburban's driving toward us, taking up the two lanes, and three cars racing behind it. We were all heading for a collision.


	5. Chapter V

**Chapter V**

I had one hand around Jack's throat and was busy choking him while he was trying to gouge out my eye.

"SEAN!" I heard Isabelle suddenly scream out.

I turned and I saw the six vehicles racing toward us. We then all saw as the three Chevrolet Suburban's suddenly transform into massive, black bipedal machines with piercing red eyes. They slid across the road and Isabelle plowed head on into one of their legs. I hit my head on her windshield, cracking it, and nearly knocking me out.

I looked up at the robots, dazed, and then saw the three vehicles pursuing them transform into robots as well.

They all had weapons pointed at each other.

"Go… get out of the car," I groaned, opening the passenger door.

I spilled out onto the road and stumbled off the road, sliding down an embankment. I hit a tree and looked up at Isabelle's car. One of the Suburban robots suddenly stepped back onto her piece of shit Toyota Corolla and crushed it beneath its massive foot.

"Isabelle!" I called out.

My shouts alerted the red-eyed robots to me and they spoke in some alien dialect. One of them then slid down the embankment toward me.

"Shit," I swore, pulling away from the tree, and starting to make my way down the embankment with a twenty-foot robot pursuing.

I heard shots and explosions from the highway above and then saw a black blur come down the embankment with the robot and me.

I slid down to the bottom of the embankment and ran across a streambed. The robot hit the ground and I turned to look at it over my shoulder only to see its right arm shift into some kind of gun.

"Oh shit!" I shouted, expecting to be killed right there, but suddenly the robot screeched as an arrow went straight through its elbow.

I turned and stopped running as the arrow began beeping before exploding, throwing the robot into the stream and tearing its arm to scrap metal. The robot rolled across the stream as a smaller and more slender robot with electric blue eyes appeared out of the trees with a crossbow-like weapon in its hand.

The larger robot aimed a second gun at the other robot, but was shot in the chest with another arrow.

"Get down, kid!" the smaller robot yelled at me in a feminine voice.

I didn't hesitate and threw myself to the ground as the arrow exploded in the larger robot's chest, throwing flaming pieces of metal across the streambed.

I looked up at the other robot as its crossbow folded up into its wrist.

"Are you okay?" it asked me, kneeling down in front of me.

Suddenly two more robots came rolling down the embankment toward us. Both were about the same size. It was another black Suburban robot and the other was a brown robot with blue eyes just like the other one.

The two robots broke apart and then two more came running down the embankment shooting at each other with futuristic guns.

I stood to my feet as the smaller robot stood protectively in front of me.

I watched as a dark blue robot with the same blue eyes as the other two suddenly pulled out a sword from its back that suddenly opened up to become a double-sided blade. It stabbed the robot it was fighting through the chest and then the blade swung back into itself, slicing the robot down the center of its head and chest, nearly cutting it vertically in half. The dark blue robot pulled its blade out of the robot and it fell forward.

I then turned my attention to the other two robots as they traded blows. The brown robot suddenly had a pair of bladed knuckles swing onto its fists. It then punched the black robot in the face several times, each other, tearing into its metal features. Finally the brown robot wrapped its arm around the other robot's neck and squeezed until the neck joints popped and the other robot was decapitated.

The head rolled across the streambed and the brown robot dropped the rest of the robot.

It then hit me that I never saw if Isabelle or Jack got out of her car before it got smashed. I began running up the embankment, leaving the three robots behind in the streambed.

"Isabelle! Jack!" I called out, reaching the highway where Isabelle's completely flattened car lay in the middle of the road.

I stood next to it and began looking around frantically.

"Isabelle! Jack!" I called out again.

"Sean!" I heard Isabelle call out my name from the other side of the highway.

I ran over and saw her standing next to my unconscious brother.

"He fainted when he saw the robots," she explained.

I really didn't hear her as I embraced her. I was just glad she was alive.

"Sean…," Isabelle said nervously, looking over my shoulder.

I pulled away and turned to face the three surviving robots. I moved to put myself between Isabelle and them.

"What are you things?" I asked.

"Come with us and we'll tell you," the dark blue robot said as he put his sword on his back.

Isabelle looked thrown off from it speaking perfect English.

"Yeah, no thank you," I responded.

"Please come with us?" the slender robot asked.

That threw Isabelle off a bit more to hear the robot sound like a woman.

"Hell no, we don't know what you are, or why you're here, but I saw you fire exploding arrows! I saw you nearly bisect a robot! And I saw you rip a robot's head off with your bare hands!" I shouted.

"This organic is obviously alarmed of our presence," the dark blue robot pointed out to the brown one.

"Of course I'm alarmed!" I shouted.

The black robot suddenly scanned me with a laser from its blue eyes.

"What the fuck!?" I shouted, trying to get out of the laser.

"Sean Davis, age twenty-one by this planet's means of aging. Arrested four years ago for vehicular manslaughter and driving while under the influence of alcohol. Released from Tranquility City Jail yesterday afternoon and is currently on parole for the next year," the robot said.

I looked at it incredulously as it then scanned Isabelle.

"Isabelle Reeves, age twenty-one…," the robot went on before I interrupted.

"What are you doing?" I asked it.

"I'm scanning you to get your basic information," it responded casually.

"Come on, Elita, the humans are obviously scared. Why don't ya try dialing down the alien robot a bit," the brown robot suggested.

The black robot shot the other a serious look.

"Or continue being some freaky chick," the other one said, holding its hands up defensively.

"Ugh… what's going on?" Jack asked as he came to.

He looked up to see the robots and then passed out once again upon seeing them.

Then we all heard sirens off in the distance and approaching us.

"Human authorities, we need to clean up, and fast," the dark blue robot said, bringing out a vial of green liquid.

It splashed some on Isabelle's car and then slid down the embankment to do the same to the other robots. We watched as Isabelle's car melted away into green smoke.

"I don't think my insurance will cover that," she pointed out.

"Hound, grab the humans, and be gentle," the black robot ordered as it opened a plate on its wrist.

It pushed a button and a swirling vortex appeared on the road.

"Come here humans, come to old Hound," the robot said, reaching down toward us.

We couldn't exactly fight back, so the robot grabbed all three of us and turned to the swirling vortex.

"Humans retrieved," the brown robot said.

"Evidence eradicated," the dark blue robot said, returning from the streambed.

"Ground Bridge open, let's move out," the black robot said.

All six of us went through the swirling vortex. I closed my eyes, not knowing what to expect next.


End file.
